Because I Knew You, I Have Been Changed For Good
by LuckyxLabradoodlexLoverx7
Summary: AU: Roger is dying in the hospital and calls Mark to him. Set to the song For Good from Wicked. One shot.


Disclaimer - I own nothing of the song For Good or RENT. Both belong to their respected owners. 'Nuff said.

_**Italics**_ are lyrics and thoughts.

A/N: I was listening to the song For Good and thinking about how it would've fit into the movie, RENT, thus, coming up with this story idea.

A/N 2: Roger sings Elphaba's part and Mark sings Glinda's.

Summary: AU: Roger is dying in the hospital and calls Mark to him. Set to the song For Good from Wicked. One shot.

Genre: Angst/Tragedy

Rating: T

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Roger looked out the hospital window and sighed. Mark had brought him to the hospital three days ago. Roger couldn't stop coughing up blood and Mark feared that it was Roger's time. They had lost Mimi and Collins already - Mimi in the spring and Collins in the summer. It was now September 12th, 2007 - Roger's birthday, but he didn't feel much like celebrating. He told whoever visited him not to make a big fuss or bring him anything – not even a piece of chocolate cake.

"Hey." Mark greeted him, coming into the room. Roger kept his face pressed to the glass. A small notebook was in his lap.

"Hey." Roger greeted the other man, turning his face away from the window. Mark was sitting on one of the chairs in the room.

"Are Joanne and Maureen coming?" Roger asked, making his way back to his bed. Mark shook his head.

"That's okay. I don't want them to see me like this." Roger told Mark, feeling the sting of tears in his eyes.

"_I'm limited:  
Just look at me - I'm limited  
And just look at you -  
You can do all I couldn't do, Marky  
So now it's up to you  
For both of us  
Now it's up to you._" Roger sang, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"_I've heard it said  
That people come into our lives for a reason  
Bringing something we must learn  
And we are led  
To those who help us most to grow  
If we let them  
And we help them in return  
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true  
But I know who I am today  
Because I knew you_

_Like a comet pulled from orbit  
As it passes a sun  
Like a stream that meets a boulder  
Halfway through the wood  
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  
But because I knew you  
I have been changed for good_." Mark crooned. He had no idea that two weeks later, he would be singing this song at Roger's funeral.

"_It well may be  
That we will never meet again  
In this lifetime  
So let me say before we part  
So much of me  
Is made of what I learned from you  
You'll be with me  
Like a handprint on my heart  
And now whatever way our stories end  
I know you have re-written mine  
By being my friend..._

_Like a ship blown from its mooring  
By a wind off the sea  
Like a seed dropped by a skybird  
In a distant wood  
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  
But because I knew you..._" Roger sang, trying to keep his tears from falling.

"_Because I knew you._" Mark crooned.

"_I have been changed for good._" the two of them sang.

"_And just to clear the air  
I ask forgiveness  
For the things I've done you blame me for._" Roger sang. Mark nodded and hugged Roger.

"_But then, I guess we know  
There's blame to share._" Mark sang, smiling slightly.

"_And none of it seems to matter anymore._" the two of them crooned.

"_Like a comet pulled  
From orbit as it  
Passes a sun, like  
A stream that meets  
A boulder, half-way  
Through the wood._" Mark sang, overpowering Roger.

"_Like a ship blown  
Off its mooring  
By a wind off the  
Sea, like a seed  
Dropped by a  
Bird in the wood._" Roger sang, overpowering Mark.

"_Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  
I do believe I have been changed for the better._" the two of them sang.

"_And because I knew you._" Mark sang, ignoring the prompts from the room nurse to get out of Roger's room.

"_Because I knew you_." Roger sang, wincing as the nurse injected medicine into his arm.

"_Because I knew you  
I have been changed for good._" Both of them sang. Mark stood up, hugged Roger and headed out of the room.

Two weeks later, Mark was visiting Maureen and Joanne when the phone rang. Joanne went to answer it and automatically dropped to her knees, sobbing.

"Pookie, what's wrong?" Maureen asked, rushing to Joanne's side.

"That was the hospital." Joanne choked out.

"Is it Roger?" Mark inquired. Joanne nodded, wiping the tears out of her eyes. Maureen rubbed Joanne's back and held her close.

Mark started planning a memorial service for Roger. Maureen and Joanne did all they could to help when they weren't working.

It wasn't long when Mark was singing For Good - the song he had sung with Roger - for his memorial service. This time, he was singing it with Maureen.

Three days after the memorial service, Mark couldn't stop thinking about Roger. He didn't know why, but he kept having dreams about the rocker - very absurd dreams. In one, he and Roger were dressed in women's clothes - Mark in a pink gown and Roger dressed in a black outfit with his face and hands painted green.

Mark couldn't believe everything that happened in the year that followed Roger's death. Mark married, had two children, went through another loss - this time, Joanne and divorced from his wife that winter. His wife won custody of his children, so Mark had nothing left in life. He and Maureen started dating and gave their relationship another try. This time, it worked and in 2009, he married Maureen and welcomed his daughter, Abigail, in the spring of 2010.

While he was rummaging through his things in the attic, Mark came across a note card that had Roger's handwriting on it. Curious, he looked at the note card and nearly burst into tears at what it said:

_It well may be  
That we will never meet again  
In this lifetime  
So let me say before we part  
So much of me  
Is made of what I learned from you  
You'll be with me  
Like a handprint on my heart  
And now whatever way our stories end  
I know you have re-written mine  
By being my friend…_

Shortly after he found that note, Mark did what he thought he'd never do - he committed suicide. He felt that life wasn't worth living anymore - considering that he had a beautiful wife and daughter. Nothing was going his way, so he thought that killing himself would be the best for everyone.

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